Tissue distribution and subcellular localization of the family of Kidney Ankyrin Repeat Domain (KANK) proteins

Kidney Ankyrin Repeat-containing Proteins (KANKs) comprise a family of four evolutionary conserved proteins (KANK1 to 4) that localize to the belt of mature focal adhesions (FAs) where they regulate integrin-mediated adhesion, actomyosin contractility, and link FAs to the cortical microtubule stabilization complex (CMSC). The human KANK proteins were first identified in kidney and have been associated with kidney cancer and nephrotic syndrome. Here, we report the distributions and subcellular localizations of the four Kank mRNAs and proteins in mouse tissues. We found that the KANK family members display distinct and rarely overlapping expression patterns. Whereas KANK1 is expressed at the basal side of epithelial cells of all tissues tested, KANK2 expression is mainly observed at the plasma membrane and/or cytoplasm of mesenchymal cells and KANK3 exclusively in vascular and lymphatic endothelial cells. KANK4 shows the least widespread expression pattern and when present, overlaps with KANK2 in contractile cells, such as smooth muscle cells and pericytes. Our findings show that KANKs are widely expressed in a cell type-specific manner, which suggests that they have cell- and tissue-specific functions

A randomized, phase II study of afatinib versus cetuximab in metastatic or recurrent squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck.

BackgroundAfatinib is an oral, irreversible ErbB family blocker that has shown activity in epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR)-mutated lung cancer. We hypothesized that the agent would have greater antitumor activity compared with cetuximab in recurrent or metastatic (R/M) head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) patients, whose disease has progressed after platinum-containing therapy.Patients and methodsAn open-label, randomized, phase II trial was conducted in 43 centers; 124 patients were randomized (1 : 1) to either afatinib (50 mg/day) or cetuximab (250 mg/m(2)/week) until disease progression or intolerable adverse events (AEs) (stage I), with optional crossover (stage II). The primary end point was tumor shrinkage before crossover assessed by investigator (IR) and independent central review (ICR).ResultsA total of 121 patients were treated (61 afatinib, 60 cetuximab) and 68 crossed over to stage II (32 and 36 respectively). In stage I, mean tumor shrinkage by IR/ICR was 10.4%/16.6% with afatinib and 5.4%/10.1% with cetuximab (P = 0.46/0.30). Objective response rate was 16.1%/8.1% with afatinib and 6.5%/9.7% with cetuximab (IR/ICR). Comparable disease control rates were observed with afatinib (50%) and cetuximab (56.5%) by IR; similar results were seen by ICR. Most common grade ≥3 drug-related AEs (DRAEs) were rash/acne (18% versus 8.3%), diarrhea (14.8% versus 0%), and stomatitis/mucositis (11.5% versus 0%) with afatinib and cetuximab, respectively. Patients with DRAEs leading to treatment discontinuation were 23% with afatinib and 5% with cetuximab. In stage II, disease control rate (IR/ICR) was 38.9%/33.3% with afatinib and 18.8%/18.8% with cetuximab.ConclusionAfatinib showed antitumor activity comparable to cetuximab in R/M HNSCC in this exploratory phase II trial, although more patients on afatinib discontinued treatment due to AEs. Sequential EGFR/ErbB treatment with afatinib and cetuximab provided sustained clinical benefit in patients after crossover, suggesting a lack of cross-resistance

New features of collective motion of intrinsic degrees of freedom. Toward a possible way to classify the intrinsic states

Three exactly solvable Hamiltonians of complex structure are studied in the framework of a semi-classical approach. The quantized trajectories for intrinsic coordinates correspond to energies which may be classified in collective bands. For two of the chosen Hamiltonians the symmetry SU2xSU2 is the appropriate one to classify the eigenvalues in the laboratory frame. Connections of results presented here with the molecular spectrum and Moszkowski model are pointed out. The present approach suggests that the intrinsic states, which in standard formalisms are heading rotational bands, are forming themselves "rotational" bands, the rotations being performed in a fictious boson space.Comment: 33 pages, 9 figure

Collective Modes of Tri-Nuclear Molecules

A geometrical model for tri-nuclear molecules is presented. An analytical solution is obtained provided the nuclei, which are taken to be prolately deformed, are connected in line to each other. Furthermore, the tri-nuclear molecule is composed of two heavy and one light cluster, the later sandwiched between the two heavy clusters. A basis is constructed in which Hamiltonians of more general configurations can be diagonalized. In the calculation of the interaction between the clusters higher multipole deformations are taken into account, including the hexadecupole one. A repulsive nuclear core is introduced in the potential in order to insure a quasi-stable configuration of the system. The model is applied to three nuclear molecules, namely $^{96}$Sr + $^{10}$Be + $^{146}$Ba, $^{108}$Mo + $^{10}$Be + $^{134}$Te and $^{112}$Ru + $^{10}$Be + $^{130}$Sn.Comment: 24 pages, 9 figure

Single Sample Expression-Anchored Mechanisms Predict Survival in Head and Neck Cancer

Gene expression signatures that are predictive of therapeutic response or prognosis are increasingly useful in clinical care; however, mechanistic (and intuitive) interpretation of expression arrays remains an unmet challenge. Additionally, there is surprisingly little gene overlap among distinct clinically validated expression signatures. These “causality challenges” hinder the adoption of signatures as compared to functionally well-characterized single gene biomarkers. To increase the utility of multi-gene signatures in survival studies, we developed a novel approach to generate “personal mechanism signatures” of molecular pathways and functions from gene expression arrays. FAIME, the Functional Analysis of Individual Microarray Expression, computes mechanism scores using rank-weighted gene expression of an individual sample. By comparing head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) samples with non-tumor control tissues, the precision and recall of deregulated FAIME-derived mechanisms of pathways and molecular functions are comparable to those produced by conventional cohort-wide methods (e.g. GSEA). The overlap of “Oncogenic FAIME Features of HNSCC” (statistically significant and differentially regulated FAIME-derived genesets representing GO functions or KEGG pathways derived from HNSCC tissue) among three distinct HNSCC datasets (pathways:46%, p<0.001) is more significant than the gene overlap (genes:4%). These Oncogenic FAIME Features of HNSCC can accurately discriminate tumors from control tissues in two additional HNSCC datasets (n = 35 and 91, F-accuracy = 100% and 97%, empirical p<0.001, area under the receiver operating characteristic curves = 99% and 92%), and stratify recurrence-free survival in patients from two independent studies (p = 0.0018 and p = 0.032, log-rank). Previous approaches depending on group assignment of individual samples before selecting features or learning a classifier are limited by design to discrete-class prediction. In contrast, FAIME calculates mechanism profiles for individual patients without requiring group assignment in validation sets. FAIME is more amenable for clinical deployment since it translates the gene-level measurements of each given sample into pathways and molecular function profiles that can be applied to analyze continuous phenotypes in clinical outcome studies (e.g. survival time, tumor volume)

Single Sample Expression-Anchored Mechanisms Predict Survival in Head and Neck Cancer

Gene expression signatures that are predictive of therapeutic response or prognosis are increasingly useful in clinical care; however, mechanistic (and intuitive) interpretation of expression arrays remains an unmet challenge. Additionally, there is surprisingly little gene overlap among distinct clinically validated expression signatures. These “causality challenges” hinder the adoption of signatures as compared to functionally well-characterized single gene biomarkers. To increase the utility of multi-gene signatures in survival studies, we developed a novel approach to generate “personal mechanism signatures” of molecular pathways and functions from gene expression arrays. FAIME, the Functional Analysis of Individual Microarray Expression, computes mechanism scores using rank-weighted gene expression of an individual sample. By comparing head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) samples with non-tumor control tissues, the precision and recall of deregulated FAIME-derived mechanisms of pathways and molecular functions are comparable to those produced by conventional cohort-wide methods (e.g. GSEA). The overlap of “Oncogenic FAIME Features of HNSCC” (statistically significant and differentially regulated FAIME-derived genesets representing GO functions or KEGG pathways derived from HNSCC tissue) among three distinct HNSCC datasets (pathways:46%, pOncogenic FAIME Features of HNSCC can accurately discriminate tumors from control tissues in two additional HNSCC datasets (n = 35 and 91, F-accuracy = 100% and 97%, empirical pp = 0.0018 and p = 0.032, log-rank). Previous approaches depending on group assignment of individual samples before selecting features or learning a classifier are limited by design to discrete-class prediction. In contrast, FAIME calculates mechanism profiles for individual patients without requiring group assignment in validation sets. FAIME is more amenable for clinical deployment since it translates the gene-level measurements of each given sample into pathways and molecular function profiles that can be applied to analyze continuous phenotypes in clinical outcome studies (e.g. survival time, tumor volume).</p

Immunological and mass spectrometry-based approaches to determine thresholds of the mutagenic DNA adduct O 6 -methylguanine in vivo

© 2018, Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature. N-nitroso compounds are alkylating agents, which are widespread in our diet and the environment. They induce DNA alkylation adducts such as O 6 -methylguanine (O 6 -MeG), which is repaired by O 6 -methylguanine-DNA methyltransferase (MGMT). Persistent O 6 -MeG lesions have detrimental biological consequences like mutagenicity and cytotoxicity. Due to its pivotal role in the etiology of cancer and in cytotoxic cancer therapy, it is important to detect and quantify O 6 -MeG in biological specimens in a sensitive and accurate manner. Here, we used immunological approaches and established an ultra performance liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry (UPLC–MS/MS) to monitor O 6 -MeG adducts. First, colorectal cancer (CRC) cells were treated with the methylating anticancer drug temozolomide (TMZ). Immunofluorescence microscopy and an immuno-slot blot assay, both based on an adduct-specific antibody, allowed for the semi-quantitative, dose-dependent assessment of O 6 -MeG in CRC cells. Using the highly sensitive and specific UPLC–MS/MS, TMZ-induced O 6 -MeG adducts were quantified in CRC cells and even in peripheral blood mononuclear cells exposed to clinically relevant TMZ doses. Furthermore, all methodologies were used to detect O 6 -MeG in wildtype (WT) and MGMT-deficient mice challenged with the carcinogen azoxymethane. UPLC–MS/MS measurements and dose–response modeling revealed a non-linear formation of hepatic and colonic O 6 -MeG adducts in WT, whereas linear O 6 -MeG formation without a threshold was observed in MGMT-deficient mice. Collectively, the UPLC–MS/MS analysis is highly sensitive and specific for O 6 -MeG, thereby allowing for the first time for the determination of a genotoxic threshold upon exposure to O 6 -methylating agents. We envision that this method will be instrumental to monitor the efficacy of methylating chemotherapy and to assess dietary exposures

Toxic Epidermal Necrolysis after Pemetrexed and Cisplatin for Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer in a Patient with Sharp Syndrome

Background: Pemetrexed is an antifolate drug approved for maintenance and second-line therapy, and, in combination with cisplatin, for first-line treatment of advanced nonsquamous non-small cell lung cancer. The side-effect profile includes fatigue, hematological and gastrointestinal toxicity, an increase in hepatic enzymes, sensory neuropathy, and pulmonary and cutaneous toxicity in various degrees. Case Report: We present the case of a 58-year-old woman with history of Sharp's syndrome and adenocarcinoma of the lung, who developed toxic epidermal necrolysis after the first cycle of pemetrexed, including erythema, bullae, extensive skin denudation, subsequent systemic inflammation and severe deterioration in general condition. The generalized skin lesions occurred primarily in the previous radiation field and responded to immunosuppressive treatment with prednisone. Conclusion: Although skin toxicity is a well-known side effect of pemetrexed, severe skin reactions after pemetrexed administration are rare. Caution should be applied in cases in which pemetrexed is given subsequent to radiation therapy, especially in patients with pre-existing skin diseases

A randomized phase 2 network trial of tivantinib plus cetuximab versus cetuximab in patients with recurrent/metastatic head and neck squamous cell carcinoma

Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/154935/1/cncr32762.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/154935/2/cncr32762_am.pd

Molecular targeted therapies in head and neck cancer - An update of recent developements -

Targeted therapies have made their way into clinical practice during the past decade. They have caused a major impact on the survival of cancer patients in many areas of clinical oncology and hematology. Indeed, in some hematologic malignancies, such as chronic myelogenous leukemia or non-Hodgkin's lymphomas, biologicals and antibodies specifically designed to target tumour-specific proteins have revolutionized treatment standards. In solid tumours, new drugs targeting EGF- or VEGF- receptors are now approved and are entering clinical practise for treatment of colon, lung, kidney and other cancers, either alone or in combination with conventional treatment approaches